Hamilton wood



ras PATENT ortica.

HAMILTON WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BURNING ORNAMENTAL FIGURES UPON'WOOD.

To all lwhen?, t may concern Be it known that I, HAMILTON WOOD, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have discovered a new and'useful Improvement in Ornamenting Woodg and I do hereby declare the followingf to be a full, clear, and eXact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speciwfication,:in whichiFigure l is aperspective view of a mold Fig. 2 is a section of the mold or die and the manner in which it acts uponvor die.

the wood.

.Thecharacter ofmy invention for which Ilsolicit patent of the United States is an improvement on an art or manufacture which consists ofva process or processes for treating wood whereby fromits rough or natural state, without the aid of cutting` tools ory like mechanical devices, may be Aproduced fac-simile copies of ornamental moldings,y panels, figures, medallions, busts, caryatids, or other objects and figures without-limitations as to elaborateness and rich-- ness, the same being in high relief, having` all the sharpness of outline, and perfectionA of -the originals, whether the designs be' square, co-ncave, cylindrical, or otherwise.

-The discovery or invention on which my improvements are based consists of a method of treating pieces of wood, sov as to produce uneven surfaces or gures on them, by

branding them with ret hot metallic molds orl dies, which molds or dies, have the figures:

oruneven surfaces desired to be produced upon the wood, cast or cut upon them.

vIn the process referred to, which may be `found described in the Repertory of Patent Inventions for 184:5, a mold or figure of the obj ect to 'be produced on the surface of wood, is first made, and from this a matrix or reverse mold is taken or cast in metal; thisl mold or die is thenA put into a furnace and Aheated red hot,- itis thentaken in its heated stateandftransferred to the bed of -a press,` in s uch a position that the'block of wood intended to ytake thel impression Acan be heated.` The `wood meanwhile beingy thrown v Specification of Letters Patent No. 7,111, dated February 19, 1850.

into water or other liquid, (as the old speciication has it), and cleaned by carefully ybrushing and scraping away the burnt parts. ,The mold or die being again re-heated as before stated, is brought in contact with the .wood and the .impression thereby deepened trifling cost, when compared with the originals, the most elaborate, and exquisite carvings, ivith all the sharpness of outline, and delicacy of touch, belonging to the finest productions of the artists chisel.

The improvement consists, first, in the method of construct-ing the dies or molds; second, in the treatment ofthe wood in re- .nioving the charred or burnt surface, so as to leave a perfect figure; and third, in the discovery of a peculiar tool or brush as applied thereto.

In the irst place, by no process of making the dies or molds before described, could `any figure be produced wholly without the aid of the chisel inretouching it, because it was impossible to produce the full depth of the Ifigure-and retain the sharp outline on the high surfaces, as indrapery, foliage, &c;, but byfmeans o-f my improvement-s in making the dies I produce a perfect imitation in every respect to the minutest line without the aid of any cutting tool or like hand process whatever: That. isto say when the char is cleanedv away from the wood after my dies have been used, the figure 1is produced perfect. v'llo'accomplish thisI take in the first place a cast of the figure to vbe imitated in wax or other substance, and from this cast 10 a metalcasting-is obtained-for the mold or enlargement of the mold in those places thek proper effect could not be produced unless attained by the carvers chisel afterwards.

In Figs. 1 and 2 are views of the mold thus prepared. Fig. 2 is a section.

The letters (a, b, c, CZ, e,') represent the outline of a figure to be produced in wood and (f, g, 71 z', 70,) is the section of the figure after it is finished and is the a pearance it would have if then inserted in t e die.

resent the depth to which the die has charred the wood and for which calculation must be made in constructing the die; near the points (a, f,) (k, 6,) so much calculation is not required, nor in the more shallow parts, as in these the heat does not concentrate with such =force as in the prominent parts of a figure.

During the process of burning the wood, much gas, vapor, smoke, &c., is formed at the points of contact of the die with the wood; this accumulates to such a degree as to burst the wood asunder in order to escape', and thereby destroys the piece, and this is especially the case in producing articles in high relief. To avoid this danger, and remedy such defects, is the object of a second improvement in the construction of the dies. This consists in boring a series of holes through the surface leading to the points of the ligure where the accumulation will be greatest; these holes may be seen at (m, m,) and form suitable vents for the escape of these gases &c. The top o-f the die is crossed with a series of deep cuts to allow the smoke thus escaping to pass out from beneath the follower of the press.

(n, 71,) are a series of vents cut also on the face of the die for the Same purpose as (m, m). The face of the dies may be of various curves, as well as fiat, by means of which moldings, corner pieces, chair backs, and all like articles, can be readily prof duced; also the dies may be formed with two faces, carved with ligures,fso as to produce at one pressure two subjects at a time,

The operation is as follows: The dies-prepared as above described are put into a proper furnace and heated to redness, thence they are transferred to a press on the frame of which the wood to be actedupon is previously placed; the die being quickly put upon the wood, the follower is brought down upon it, and there subjected to severe pressure until it ceases to burn. The die beingl removed the wood is thrown immediately into an alkaline bath, consisting of'a solution of lime and soda, in water, the strength being determined by trials, according to the character of the water used and wood acted upon, the die being returned to the furnace for another heat if more pieces are to be produced from it at that time. If however the design to be wrought is of such a size, either in eXtent of surface or by reason of t-he bold projection of the figures, that once branding will not produce the work, then several heats will be requisite, practice being required to ascertain `the precise point to which the burning must be carried; the charred'surface meantime being roughly-scraped off between each heat. The last application of the die ought always to be of a less rheat than the first ones. The wood is to be treated as follows: After it is finished as to the burning part, the 'char is to be scraped off as much as will yield in the alkaline baths, then it is to beracked up to dry, in which drying the shrinkage of the unburnt surfaces, being greater than of the burnt', e. thatV which could not be removed by the scraper) the latter crumbles off, the more readily by reason of such shrinkage. In this'state it is removed to a bath of water made slightly acidby the introduction of a small quantity of oil of vitriol, and there the process is completed by brushing with a brush of suitable materials until the charred parts are all removed, and the clear wood left with t-he various figures produced upon it. y

It has'required no little ingenuity to iind a suitable brush for the purpose; the qualities required in the brush to perform the work well, are hardness and stiffness, but yet not so great as to scratch the surface of the clear wood, but suiciently rigid to produce considerable mechanical action. Broom corn, whalebone, bristles, and wire, are decient for the purpose; for where sufficient stiffness is obtained, the scratching quality comes with it, andmaterials which donot scratch have not the required mechanical action. It was necessary to find a material combining the two. This after numerous experiments I found in a weed called India bass, a peculiar `hard and tough ass; brushes made in the ordinary wayvwith it,

vare perfectly successful.

In molding works of great extent I make numerous molds of the various parts, and form the wood in sections, gluing them up afterwards at their proper joints. In heating the molds care must be taken that they are not blistered in the furnace, the construction of which must be such as to allow ofthe heat coming from beneath them, and not to sweep over the surface as in reverberatory furnaces.

What I claim as my invention and dis- 3. I claim the use of an alkaline and acid r solution, or baths to aid the removal of the charred surface.

I do not claim branding or the produc- 15 tion of uneven surfaces or figures by hot metal mold pressed upon Wood but the several improvements as above claimed on the art Within described.

HAMILTON WOOD.

Witnesses:

J. P. PmssoN, J. L. KINGSLEY. 

